


You Are Not Perfect... To Me

by cinnamont



Category: Glee
Genre: Angst, Klaine Break-Up, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-02
Updated: 2017-08-02
Packaged: 2018-12-09 21:33:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11677506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinnamont/pseuds/cinnamont
Summary: React fic to Season 4: The Breakup. Kurt calls the universe’s greatest Dad for comfort and understanding and gets a whole lot more. Warning: Kurt stans might not like this fic.





	1. Kurt

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Deutsch available: [You Are Not Perfect..... To Me](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12518792) by [Klaineship](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Klaineship/pseuds/Klaineship)



> After struggling with the cheating bombshell and how to reconcile this with the Blaine we have all known and loved and how Klaine could ever recover, I finally came to the conclusion that we all have some growing up to do - both of our dear boys and me as a fangirl by letting them grow up.
> 
> I originally posted this on LiveJournal. I'm including a third chapter that is a lengthy author's note as this ep and this attempt at reconciling it remains a sore spot.

Burt had moved over to his easy chair to settle in knowing this was going to be awhile, a long while. His son was on the phone pouring out his broken heart and hard as it was to have to hear the pain in his voice so far away where he couldn't pick him up and hold him and make everything better like when he was a little boy, Burt knew Kurt had to get it all out.

At long last, Kurt began to slow, ending in a wretched, "...and I don't know what to do. I... I don't want to let him go but I can't even look at him."

Burt heard the shaky, exhausted sigh at the other end of the line but when it was followed by silence, he thought that finally maybe Kurt was ready to listen. "So, you found out your perfect boyfriend isn't so perfect after all."

There wasn't any immediate response and Burt could practically see the perplexed expression on Kurt's face. "Wha-- is that all you have to say?"

"No," Burt responded. "You've been spoiled."

"Excuse me?!"

"You heard me, Kurt," Burt said in that no-nonsense tone that he honed from raising child with a well-developed flair for drama. "You're not a kid anymore and I'm not going to sugar-coat this for you. Being an adult means having to face up to some hard truths and a big one is learning that people aren't perfect, they're flawed, sometimes deeply flawed, and you can either condemn them for it or try to be a little understanding."

"I can't believe you're taking his side, he _cheated_ on me - with another guy!"

Kurt's voice rose up into an even higher pitch, but Burt countered by keeping his even. "I'm not and if you're going to turn your relationship into a battlefield with your side verses his side where there's a winner and loser, where one of you is the bad guy and the other is the victim, then it's better you end it now because that road doesn't lead anywhere good."

"So I should just forgive him?" Burt could hear Kurt shaking his head. "That it's is okay what he did to me?!?! And I'm spoiled for being unreasonable--!"

"Kurt!" Burt raised his voice to halt his son before he could work himself up into a full head of steam. "That is _not_ what I'm saying. You and Blaine were lucky, you had this perfect childhood romance, and yes, I think that spoiled you a little. I think you two were kidding yourselves if you thought you were just going to skip through life holding hands and have a fabulous life in fabulous New York. The hard truth is relationships are hard and monogamy is even harder because people aren't perfect, we make mistakes, profound mistakes.

"I loved your mother, but do you think I was perfect?" Burt hesitated a moment before adding, "Do you think your mother was perfect?"

"Oh my God, I don't want to hear this."

"I know you don't, but you are past the age where you get to put your fingers in your ears and lalalala things you don't want to hear away," Burt persisted. "Your mother died before you were old enough to start to see that everything wasn't always perfect between us, but that never meant that we didn't genuinely love each other." Burt had to pause to clear his throat as it thickened with emotion. "Kurt, I love you, I could not ask for a better son, but you are not perfect either.

"You love being center stage and Blaine made you the center of his world, put a spotlight on you and sat back and looked adoringly at you for two years, and let's be honest here, you loved it." Burt let that sink in a second before continuing, "You saw how wrong it was when Finn tried to make his life all about Rachel, but you never once questioned it when Blaine did the same thing with you, did you?"

Silence stretched out on the end of the line so Burt went on, "I don't like what Blaine did, but watching the two of you all this time, the one thing I don't doubt is that Blaine loves you, and not just a little, a lot - maybe too much. He put you center stage in his life and then you exited out. You have a great new life and he's.... I think his compass is spinning, I think he's lost and he doesn't know what he's doing. And I think he's hurting too."

It was awhile before Kurt finally spoke and it was in quiet, little bit lost, voice. "I.... I didn't... I hadn't thought about it like that."

"I don't think he has either," Burt said gently. "To be honest, I thought this time apart was a good thing, not just for you but even more so for Blaine, because he needs to find his own direction that isn't all about you. You two have a lot to work out, but you're a good kid, Kurt. I trust you to do the right thing."

"I love you, Dad."

"I love you, too."


	2. Blaine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Burt has a talk with Blaine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally only a one-shot of Kurt and Burt. I added this later when I thought about what Burt might say to Blaine. They never had a scene on the show, just Burt accepting Blaine without a comment which I thought was too easy. Also, I thought Blaine deserved a "You matter" talk too, and nobody delivers those better than Burt.

Burt Hummel knocked on the door frame on McKinley's choir room. Will Schuster pivoted his head around and lit up into a welcoming smile as soon as he saw him.

There was a chorus of "Mr. Hummel" and "It's the Congressman" from the older kids while younger faces he didn't recognize just looked confused. He nodded to Kurt's old classmates, briefly glancing over to Blaine who looked like he was about to be arrested.

"Burt!" Will greeted as he immediately came over to shake his hand. "It's great to see you. How's Washington?"

"The asylum run by the inmates? Pretty much the same as usual, I'm sorry to say," Burt smiled back at Will. He had come back for weekend break and had shed his jacket and tie in the car on the way from the airport and rolled up his shirt sleeves. "If you don't mind, I'd like to ask a favor."

Burt leaned in to whisper quietly to the choir director who nodded and then turned away to address the kids. "Okay," Will clapped his hands. "You all have next week's assignments. Can't wait to hear what you come up with, so have a good weekend."

As the kids gathered up their things and shuffled out the door, Will turned to say, "Ah Blaine, could you stay a moment?"

If possible Blaine went even paler, he shot a look to Sam who tried to give him a look of moral support and actually seemed to debate whether or not to stay but Mr. Shue was gesturing for Sam to leave with him. Reluctantly, Sam allowed himself to be led away, but he gave Burt a concerned expression and opened his mouth to speak.

Burt dropped a hand on Sam's shoulder and said, "I'll see you at home, Sam."

Slowly Sam closed his mouth and nodded. He gave Blaine one last sympathetic look before disappearing out the door with Mr. Shue who closed the door behind them.

Burt watched as Blaine took a deep breath and drew himself up, bracing himself for what was coming. Burt had thought he might be tempted to deliberately draw out Blaine's misery but seeing the boy's strickened expression, he took a little mercy on him. "Yes, I've talked with Kurt and yes, I know," Burt told him.

Pain flashed over Blaine's face and he flushed red. "I'm so sorry, I--"

Burt cut him off with a wave of an impatient hand. "Sit down, Blaine," he all but ordered. "There are a few things I want to say to you."

Blaine sat stiffly in one of the plastic seats and clenched his hands over his legs.

Burt took a moment, he hadn't really worked out what he was going to say ahead of time, really wasn't sure what he was going to feel and even now there was a swirl of anger and pity that could still go either way. "If I thought for a minute, that you were anything less than completely in love with Kurt or that you thought it was just fine to be with him while you ran around behind his back, this conversation would be going _very_ differently."

"I--" Blaine started to say but immediately snapped his mouth shut at the glare Burt gave him.

"I talk, you listen," Burt warned. "Lucky for you, I've had a couple of years to get to know you, Blaine. And I've seen how you understand what's special about Kurt and love him for it.... the same way I do. You were a good friend to him when he needed it the most... when things had gotten really bad and no one noticed --" and Burt pressed his lips tightly together for a moment before admitting, "--not even me. I never told you this and maybe I should have, but I will always be grateful to you for that."

Blaine lifted uncertain eyes up to Burt for a moment before drifting back to stare straight ahead again. Maybe it was the bow tie and sweater vest but in that instant Burt could picture a small boy trying to unflinchingly take his punishment.

"But now I think you're the one whose all alone and no one's been noticing, not even Kurt." Blaine shot a glance up that was both guarded and alarmed that made Burt think that he hit pretty close to the mark. Burt hadn't really ever gotten to know Blaine's parents on the rare occasions that they met and while they nominally supported Blaine it was clear that it was not a close enough relationship that he was likely to confide in them, not the way Kurt did with him.

"And it's not always easy getting his attention, I know. I had to have a heart attack before I could get Kurt to understand why family dinners were important without him rolling his eyes at me." Burt pulled up a chair next to Blaine's. "It's never going to be like high school again where the two of you have nothing but time for each other. It may be Kurt now but soon enough it will be you too; first it will be college and then it will be your careers. There will always be really good reasons why you can't spend time together but when it's important, when it's family, you both have to make the time, no excuses."

"I know," Blaine said quietly. "I--"

"Not finished yet," Burt cut him off again. "That's the easy part. Kurt not being accessible isn't the real problem here, Blaine, you are." Blaine looked like he might say something but kept his mouth shut. "I've seen how you put everyone else first, especially Kurt - and it's great the way you support him going after his dream - but not when you sacrifice having a dream for yourself. And I'm not talking about living happily ever after with Kurt, a dream of your own. You need that, Blaine. It's okay to be selfish once in a while. Kurt knows that but I'm not so sure you do."

"Kurt's not selfish, he's incredibly... giving!" Blaine defended Kurt automatically.

Burt gave Blaine an 'I know' look. "Yes, Kurt will extend himself out to the people he cares about, he's even compassionate to those who've wronged him - he's pretty amazing like that - but when it comes to things he want, he's also got no problem saying 'Get off my runway'!" Blaine had to laugh. "You could stand to learn a little of that."

This time when Blaine opened his mouth to speak, Burt didn't interrupt. "I've tried. I ran for class president. I joined clubs."

"I don't mean filling hours with stuff to do, I mean something that matters to you, something that brings you to life," Burt said but at Blaine expression, he wanted to shake Blaine. "You're thinking 'that's Kurt', aren't you?" Blaine had the grace to look guilty. "For God's sake, Blaine! Okay, it can be Kurt but it needs to be more too."

"I... don't know what that is," Blaine finally confessed. He shook his head, lost. "I used to know. I thought I did when I was with the Warblers, but now it's different and I don't know anymore."

"Yeah," Burt sympathized, "I think that's a big part of the problem. You've got to figure that out - yourself." He let Blaine dwell on that a moment before saying, "As I said - part of the problem, not the only part." Blaine watched him guardedly. "You keep acting like everything's fine even when it isn't. You don't want to put your problems on others so you keep them to yourself until it gets to be too much and then you snap. I'd think that you were feeling a hell of lot more alone than you thought you would with Kurt gone, didn't want to make it his problem by complaining about it and then when you did say something, you didn't say it forcefully enough to get Kurt's attention so when someone finally did notice you...."

Blaine turned his face away, but Burt reached out to put a hand over his shoulder. "I'm only sorry I didn't see it either so I could stop you from doing something that stupid. But my point is, you've got to stop keeping it all inside until it blows up in your face."

Blaine nodded but still couldn't compose himself enough to face Burt which brought up something else that had always worried him about Blaine. "I've never meet anyone who tries so hard to be as perfect as you do." Burt had quietly rolled his eyes at how Blaine dressed like he stepped out of a _Father Knows Best_ episode until he started to suspect there was more than a fashion statement at work. Burt shifted his arm more fully over Blaine's shoulders. "Maybe I'm out of line here, but it ticks me off that your family made you think that you weren't good enough as you are. Your father should have told you are everything a man could want in a son - because you are."

A hand flew up to cover Blaine's face as he lost it. Burt drew him in close. "So maybe you can cut yourself some slack and stop expecting yourself to live up to standards that nobody can meet and beating yourself up when you can't. And know you still deserved to be loved even when you're not perfect."

Burt held the boy who wasn't quite a man yet while years of things he never said out loud to anyone couldn't be held inside any longer came pouring out. And when at last, Blaine let out a shuddered sigh, Burt pulled back to give him his space to get himself back together again.

"I hope you two work this out," Burt told him. "I really do because what's good between you is worth fighting for. But you've got your own work to do here."

Blaine nodded stiffly and still a little shaken but much more composed. Burt dropped a hand on his shoulder. "You're a good kid, Blaine, and of all the guys Kurt could have brought home, I'm glad it was you."

He started to say something but Blaine was at a loss for words. Burt spared him by changing the subject. "So you and Sam are kind of friends now?"

"Sam's straight," Blaine blurted out.

"I meant regular friends," Burt added.

"Yes...."

"Good," Burt said and he meant it especially since Blaine's friendship with the Warblers got burnt by the whole slushie incident. "You should have friends that aren't just Kurt's friends."

He let Blaine gather up his things then put an arm around him as he guided him to the door. "Of course, just so you know, however much I might like you, if you ever hurt my son that way again, I'll bury you where no one will ever find you."

Blaine swallowed hard.


	3. Author's Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Longer than what the Chapter Notes can hold.

I know that we're not supposed to use chapters to do a long author notes, but I am going to do it anyway - this one time. Proceed at your own caution.

Obviously I _hated_ the cheating Blaine story as it never squared with my image of Blaine. It's not that I thought Blaine was incapable of screwing up royally but cheat on Kurt - never! Or at the very least, not this easily. _(note to self: it's been years, let it go)_ I wrote this reaction fic at the time as a way to come to terms with it and somehow make it fit with the characters I knew and love (probably to an unhealthy level).

I posted it to LiveJournal where it got mostly positive feedback but it also got my harshest criticism. I am happy to say that the criticism was constructive and not hate/flame. I appreciated that. I was accused of hating Kurt though which took me by surprise because I never have, not to my mind. I don't deny being a Blaine stan but Kurt was the one I first cared about and always rooted for. So when it came time to consolidate my fics here at AO3, I deliberately left this one out. I didn't want to perpetuate any Kurt stan vs Blaine stan animosity and I didn't think anyone would miss it.

I was wrong, someone did. I got a request to bring this back. Just goes to show, let authors know if you like their fics, we don't automatically assume that people do. So I'm posting it but with a warning in the summary for Kurt stans. I have not made any alterations to the story.

I hadn't looked at this since writing it and after some distance, I can see why a fan of Kurt could react badly to this. Kurt pours out his heartbreak for what Blaine did and his dad responds by throwing his own faults in his face. Admittedly Burt _is_ taking a hard line with Kurt that could come across as needlessly harsh and unsympathetic, but he does have a reason. Burt loves Kurt - unconditionally - but that doesn't mean that he is blind to Kurt's faults and he is not afraid to call Kurt out on them. He knows his son, knows Kurt can be stubborn and proud, probably gets from him. He hears Kurt staking out a position of "I have been wronged and badly hurt and it's all Blaine's doing" - he's not wrong about that (that's part of the problem) - and if he digs himself into that position it can get in the way of working things out with Blaine, assuming that's what he wants to do. So Burt is trying to _shock_ Kurt out of that position by taking an unexpected tact and getting Kurt to look at this from a different point of view. By no means is Burt (or I as the author) trying to excuse away cheating or Blaine's culpability but he's trying to get Kurt to see that this problem may have culminated in the cheating but didn't start with it and whether he realizes it or not, he has contributed, not the cheating but to the overall problem and if he wants to fix it, they both have a lot of work to do.

I was also accused of using Burt to voice my own opinion. Guilty as charged. I own that one completely. And it's not the first time I've done that, though usually it's Blaine. There are a couple of fics I'm tempted to delete because I very much used Blaine to express my unhappiness over a couple of plot-lines that looking back on make me cringe. But not this one. While there's a big push these days to give the really talented writers their due and recognize their works as just as legitimate as any professional writer (deservedly so), but I'm not one of them. Lest we forget, fan fiction started out as amateur self-indulgences, a way to participate in our favorite stories and characters and, yes, even self-insertion. Again, guilty. But having acknowledged that I'm going to stand by the position I have Burt taking here.

Glee is a show where the characters spend about 90% of the time reacting with the maximum amount of pettiness to any given situation (Kurt, Blaine and Burt being the exceptions). I have Burt advocating for taking the mature approach to relationship problems. It is extremely rare that relationship issues are solely the fault of only one partner. It may be that one is more at fault than the other but if more oten than not both contribute in their own ways even if it's through neglect (lack of participation) or permissiveness (letting the other get away with it). Problems can be on low boil on the back burner, ignored by both parties until something happens to cause it to blow up and even threaten to end the relationship. And that thing that finally explodes it into the open might be the act of only one person which makes it super easy for the other one to blame the entire problem on that person. And if you are badly hurt in the process, it makes it hard not to get sucked into the blame game, but that only makes it all the harder to step back and realize this thing is the effect of the problem, not necessarily the cause. And the solution is not merely forgiving the partner who wronged you. You need to see what it was about both of you that was feeding the problem and address it. Sometimes it's acknowledging that while what you were doing wasn't wrong but it was still making things worse and it needs to fixed just the same.

Nobody's perfect, everybody screws up. Don't turn the relationship into you vs them, whose right and whose wrong. Own up to your part just as your partner needs to do too. Basically that's what I have Burt advocating... and since - yes - this is my own point of view, I obviously don't think it's wrong. And yes, anyone and everyone is free to disagree or disagree that it doesn't apply to Kurt and Blaine. Okay, after _all_ of this, I'm not trying to say that anyone who doesn't like this fic is therefore wrong. I clearly felt a need to get this off my chest and explain what my thinking was behind this fic. I get if you think I'm wrong and none of this changes your mind. There are a whole lot of different points of view out in the big wide world and they don't all agree. Such is life.

And if you read all that, congratulations! And, genuinely, thank you for your patience while I indulged myself in this. I feel better, hope you do too.


End file.
